Cairn

Desktop installer conflicts with existing CLI installations

NousResearch/hermes-agent · cluster 37674 · apps/bootstrap-installer

Data as of

5 open items. Fix merged in #69696. Check it covers your case.

The short answer

4open issues
1open PR
12items grouped
Known?
Yes. 12 related items grouped here, 3 issues already closed.
Fix event
A fix was merged to main in PR #69696. Check it covers your case. No release data is tracked.
Tracker
The maintainers' tracker marks this unresolved. That is separate from the fix event.
Still open
4 issues and 1 PR.

These issues and fixes concern the Hermes desktop app installer failing to detect, adopt, or reuse existing CLI environments, leading to duplicate installs, lost sessions, and broken entry points across Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Open issues4

  • Issue#37674Desktop setup should adopt existing Hermes Agent/profile installs before running mutating install stages
  • Issue#37874include-desktop should be incremental, not re-run full bootstrap
  • Issue#40178Desktop installer ignores existing CLI ~/.hermes/ with sessions, creates fresh DB in LOCALAPPDATA
  • Issue#42923[Bug]: Hermes Desktop ignores existing installation

Open PRs1

  • PR#50704Fix update paths for project .venv installs

Fixes on record

Merged to main. A stamp counts the issues a fix is linked to.

  • #69696 feat(desktop): resolve login-shell PATH for GUI launches (port of cline/cline#12429)

    merged to main

    files: apps/desktop/electron/main.ts, apps/desktop/electron/shell-path.test.ts, apps/desktop/electron/shell-path.ts

3 PRs closed without merging

From the close comments: PR volume cleanup 1 · duplicate 1 · superseded by another PR 1

  • #40233 fix(desktop/windows): honour legacy ~/.hermes when LOCALAPPDATA was pre-created (#40178) · PR volume cleanup → #40178
  • #43834 fix(desktop): resolve hermes CLI via login shell on Linux · superseded by another PR → 25851e6, #69696
  • #80655 fix(desktop): detect CLI data by state.db, not bare directory — fixes #40178 · duplicate → #40233, #40178
Closed issues · 3
  • Closed#40140Hermes Desktop creates separate HERMES_HOME instead of connecting to existing WSL installation
  • Closed#42755Desktop installer should detect existing CLI installation and skip redundant steps
  • Closed#49655Desktop App installation corrupts existing CLI environment (venv conflict / entry point loss)
How this cluster was grouped
  • Link evidence (partly structural links): some members are connected by structural evidence (shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference); the rest are joined by an automated relevance judgement over their text.
  • Members outside that structural core may belong to a different underlying problem.
  • Pairwise link density 0.11: the share of item pairs that carry a link, counting a structural link in full and a relevance-only link at 0.36. 1.00 means every pair is linked.

Pick up a Lab task

Check whether a fix covers the open issues here, with your own agent. Bring back evidence for maintainers.

Open the Lab

At a glance

Subsystem
apps/bootstrap-installer
Merged PRs
#69696
Closed issues
3
Attempts
3 PRs closed without merging
Fix link checked
17 Aug 2026

For your agent

The same facts, typed.

cluster/37674.json
cluster/37674.md